Dump-car-operating mechanism.



No. 887,163. I PATENTED MAY 12 G. T. WESTLAKE & O. P. PREDE. DUMP GAR OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLIGATION FILED JAN.16,1908.

2 SHEEII'S-SEEET 1.

No. 887.163. PATENTED MAY 12, 1908. G T. WESTLAKE 8: C. F: FREDE. DUMP UAR OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION I-ILED JAN.16,1908.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

WQAQ 64f. gym;

W W/ W To all whom tt may concern:

PAENT ores).

CHARLES 'r. WESTLAKE AND CHARLES F. FREDE, on ST. LoUIs,- MISSOURI, Assrenons T or nance anowann, or sr. LoUIs, MISSOURI.

nnmr-oanorrinarrne Mnonamsm.

Application'filed. January 16, 1908. Serial No. 411,122.

Letters Patent. Patented may s, loos,

Beit known that We, CHARLES T. WnsT- LAKE andOHARLEs F. FREDE, citizens of the United States, residing at St.'Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Dum -Car-Operating. Mechanism, of which the folihwingis'a'speci' fication. I 1 Our invention relates to mechanism for operating the drop doors of a dumpingcar, bin, storage elevator, or analogous recepg tacle, whether mounted'on wheels or stationary, adapted to contain sand, earth, coal, ore, grain, or the'like, and from which the contents are discharged or dumped through anopening in the floor controlled by the said doors toeither side of, and beneath the receptacle; and our, invention applies particularly to such arece tacle having two opposite. side doors hinge to and dependent from the floor and adapted to form when closed, a V-shapedhopperbeneath the said 'openin combined with a pivoted balanced door a apted to lock. the side doors in their 1 views of the operating mechanism correclosed'position, and to form a chute thereto intheir open position, such as the arrangement described and shown in the Letters Patent granted to Herbert L. Aulls, April 16, 1907, number 850,719, for improvement in convertible dumping-cars.

Our invention has for its object to enable the balanced door and one of the side doors to be opened simultaneously, and held in the 0 en position for discharging the contents of t e car or receptacle to the corresponding side beneath thersame, the other side -door being. at the same time held in normal or closed position, and to enable eitherof the side doors to be closed initially in advance of the balanced door.

drawing forming part of this specification, Whereon,

Figure 1, 1s a top lan view of one end and adjacent part of a ump-canhaving our improvedj.door operatin mechanism a? thereto: Fig. 2, an end elevation of 1; 1e car partly broken away, and a side viewoftheoperating mechanism: Fig; 3 a vertical transverse section through the car and doors on line 3,3, in Fig: 1, and Figs. 4., and 5, side plied,

'longitudinally successive rectangular-she. ed

o enings 2 for the discharge therethroug of 't e contents of the car a, the floor l at and between the two oppositeseries of openings 2 being triangular-shaped in cross section having its apex or ridge at a suitable height from the openings 2 or floor base, and coincident With'thelongitudinallcenter of the car a, for insuring the dump or discharge of the contents ofthe latter bygravity through the openings 2 without shoveling or plowing,

substantially as shown and described inthe said patent. Extend'ng longitudinally through theear a at'the sides respectively of each openirigiZ;

and rotatable in bearings 3 formed ln orfixed .to the floor. 1 thereat, is a shaft' l to'which is fined a door 5 dependent-iromthe floor 1,

and having its upper longitudinal edge; or

member corresponding to, and in jinas posi tion to the side of the opening 2, the twoiop posite doors b of each opening 2, on par y rotating the shafts 4, being adapted to'close together along their lower or free longitudinal edges .or members so as to forma 'V-shaped hopper c beneath the opening 2. Immediately beneath the be per 0 thus formed "and extendin longitu inally thrpughfthe" car a midway etween the shafts 4, is a shaft 5 rotatable in bearings .fiifixed to the-care, and on the shaft 5 is fixed a balanced door or locking-plate d of suitable width and referabl corresponding in length to the oors band openings 2, the balanced door (1 when horizontal being adapted to bear longitudi w nally at its middle ortion against the lower 1 ee edges or mem ers' of the doors I) and thereby hold or lock the'lattfer in their closed position, as shown particularlyin Fig. 2, and

to be moved transversely -,'th'ereat about the.

said ed es radiallto the'axialibearings 6 of ion the sha t 5, for re casing and allowing either.-

of the "doors I) to be opened and the other door I) held closed, as hereinaftermore pare ticularly refeit'red tdr- 1 On each shaft 4, preferably on the outside of the end wall 7 oi the car a, is fixed at'right angles to the innenffitce of the corresponding its to the arm 8 and lin 9, is coupled the lower end of a rod or pitman 10 having its upper end coupled to t e free end of the outer arm 11 of a lever e preferably of the first order,

. which is fulcrumed to a bracket 12 fixed to the car a, the inner arm' 11 of the lever e be ing coupled at its free end to the piston-rod 13 of a piston (not shown) contained within an upright cylinder 14 fixed to the car a, and g adapted to be raised and lowered therein by 20 steam, compressed air, or other suitable motive fluid supplied to thecylinder 14 through pipes 15 from any available source. or the piston with its rod 13 may be raised and low ered by hand in lieu of steam as hereinafter described.

The piston rod 13, when operated by the piston within thecylinder 14, is slidable at lts outer free end ortion above the point of its connection to t e lever e, through a block 16, held stationary in this case, but otherwise movable vertically in guides 17, by an upright circular rod 18 which is screwthreaded through, and for a suitable distance above the block 16, and adapted to rotate between collars 19 in a bearing 20 fixed to the car, by a handwheel 21 fixed on the upper end of the rod 18, so that, in case it is desired to operate the lever e by hand in lieu of by fluid pressure on the piston, the pistonrod 13 is fixed to the block 16 by a in 22, when by turning the rod 18 by its han -wheel '21 the block16 is raised or lowered in its guides 17 by the screw-threaded portion of the rod 18, and with it the piston-rod 1.3 and lever e.

In operation, assuming theside doors I) to be closed and locked by the balanced door'd in its horizontal position, as seen in Fig. 2, and it being desired to open the outside door I) for discharging the contents .of the car a through the opening 2 to the corresponding side thereof beneath the car a, the piston-rod 13 with the inner. arm 11 of the lever e is raised and the outer arm 11 of the latter with the pitman 10 thereby lowered, which causes the outside door I) and balanced door (1 to be' released and simultaneously swung down ward and apart from each other radially to the bearings of their respective shafts 4 and- 5, until theyreach the limit of their stroke,

or are fully o ened as seen in Fig. 4, the balanced door at the same time holding the inside door I) closed, and forming therewith a chute for directin the contents of the car a discharged thro theopening 2, to the side of. the car a.

seams For closing the outside door I) and balanced door (7., the piston-rod 13 is lowered and raises the outer arm 11 of the lever e, which causes the pitman 10, owing to the leverage at its connection with the link 9 from the shaft 4 being greater than its lever age from the shaft 5, to raise the arm 8 and outside door I) in advance of the arm 8 and balanced .door (1, until the outside door 1) approximates its closed position as seen in Fig. 5, when the doors I; and (7. will be further raised together and closed simultaneously, or .thereabout, into the position seen in Fig. 2. Conversely, if desired to open the other or inside door I) and hold' the outside door-b closed, for directing the contents of the car a inward beneath the same, the links or toggle-bars 9, 9, are disconnected from the arms 8 and 8 of the outside door I) and connected in like manner to the corresponding arms 8 and 8' of the inside door I) as indicated by dotted lines to the right in Fig. 2, and the operation repeated, the jaw at the connection of the pitman 10 with the link 9 being sufficiently long 'in this case for allowing the link 9 to be thrown overor reversed about its joint with the pitman 10' for connecting with the arm 8 of the inside door I).

What we claim as our invention and des re to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a (lump-car or analogous receptacle having a discharge opening, the combination of two op osite rotatable shafts extending along, an at or adjacent to two opposite sides of the .said opening, two opposite side doors fixed to and dependent from the said shafts and adapted to meet at the bottom in their closed position so as to form a V-shaped hopper beneath the said opening, a lower rotatable shaft extending along beneath the said opening between its said sides, bearings for the shafts fixed to the car, a balanceddoorfixed to the said lower shaft and adapt ed to bear against the bottom of the side doors in their closed position, an arm on one of the first named shafts and a corresponding arm on the lower shaft, two toggle-bars connecting the said arms together, a itman connected to oneof the said bars, an( means for raising and. lowering the said pitman, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a dump-car or analogous receptacle having a discharge opening, the combination of two opposite rotatable shafts extending along, and at or adjacent to two opposite sides of the said opening, two opposite side doors fixed to and dependent from the said shafts and adapted to meet at the bottom in their closed position so as to form a V-shaped hop er beneath the said opening, a lower rotata le shaft extending 'along beneath the said opening between its said sides, bearings for the shafts fixed to the car, a balanced door ,fixed to the lower shaft and adapted to bear against the bottom of theside doors in their closed position, an arm on one of first named shafts and a corres 'onding arm on the lower shaft, two togglears connecting the said arms together, a itman connecting one of the said bars to-a ever fulcrumed to the car, and means for raising and lowerm the saidtheir closed position so as to form a \I-shaped 'hop er beneath the said opening, a lower rotata le shaft extending along beneath the said openin between its said sides, bearings for the shafts fixed to the car, a balanced door fixed to the said lower shaft and adapted to bear against the bottom of the side doors in their closed position, means for opening one of the side doors and the balanced door simultaneously and holding them in the open (positiom means for closing the last name side door, initially in advance of the balanced door, and for holding the other side door closed during the said movements. of the balanced door, substantially as described.

4. In a dump-car or analogous receptacle having a discharge opening and doorstherefor, the combination of a lever fulcrumed to the car, a rod coupled to the lever and mov-' able longitudinally, a block fixed to the rod, a rotatable rod screw-threaded through the block in alinement with or parallel to the first named rod, and held'from longitudinal movement, suitable bearings for the said 'rods and block respectively, fixed to the car,

means for connecting the lever to the said doors, and for rotating the screw-threaded rod by hand, substantially as described.

5. In a dump-car or analogous receptacle having a discharge opening, the combination of two op osite rotatable shafts'extending along, an at or adjacent to two opposite sides of thesaid opening, two opposite side doors fixed to and dependent from the said shafts and adapted to meet at the bottom in their closed position so as to form a Vshaped hopppr beneath the said opening, a lower rotata le shaft extending along beneath the said opening between its said sides, bearings for the shafts fixed to the car, a balanced door fixed to the lower shaft and adapted to bear against-Hi. bottom of the side doors in their closed position, an arm on'one of the first named shafts and a corresponding arm-on 6c the lower shaft, .two toggle-bars connecting the said arms together, a itman connecting one of the said bars to ,a ever fulcrunied to thecar, a cylinder fixed to the car and closed at each, end, a piston within the cylinder, a rod projectin fromthe piston through one end of the cy inder and coupled to the said lever, and means for raising and lowe'rih' the piston within the cylinder, substantial y asi de'scribedand for the purpose set forth.

6. Ina dump-car or analogous receptacle having a discharge opening, the combination of two opposite rotatable shafts extending along, and at or adjacent to two opposite sides of the said opening, two opposite side doors fixed to and dependent-from the said shafts and adapted to meet at the bottom in their closed position so as to form a ii-shaped hopper beneath the said opening, a lower rotatable shaft extending along beneath the said opening between its said sides, bearings for the shafts fixed to the car, a balanced door fixed to the lower shaft and adapted to bear against the bottom of the side doors in their. closed position, an arm on one of the first named shafts and a corresponding arm on the lower shaft, two toggle-bars connect-j ing the said arms together, a pitinan connecting one of the said bars to a lever ful-- crumed to the car, a rod coupled to the lever and movable longitudinally, a block fixed to the rod, a rotatable rod screw-threaded through the block in alinement with or )ar-- allel to the first named rod and held from longitudinal movement, suitable bearings for the said rods and block respectively, fixed to the car, and means for rotating the screw threaded rod by hand, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth: 7

7. In a dump-car or analogous receptacle having a discharge opening, and two )ivoted doors therefor, means for opening the said doors simultaneously and holding them in theopen position, and means for closing one of the said doors initially in advance of the other door, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. CHARLES 'l. VVESTLAKE.

CHARLES F. FREDE. 'Witnesses:

A. R. THOMAS, H. C. BELLVILLE. 

